Board of Directors

Kenneth I. Trujillo, Esquire, Chair

Mr. Trujillo has been a member of Congreso's board since 1990. He served two years as City Solicitor of Philadelphia. In that capacity Mr. Trujillo was the chief legal counsel to the Mayor, City Council and all Philadelphia agencies and departments. As City Solicitor, Mr. Trujillo managed the 145-lawyer Philadelphia Law Department.  Mr. Trujillo is a member and founder of the firm Trujillo, Rodriguez & Richards, LLC. He received a Bachelors degree in Government from Evangelical College in Springfield, Missouri and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1986.  In 1999 Mr. Trujillo was named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal's "40 Under 40." In October 2005, Mr. Trujillo received the Ohtli Award from the Mexican Government for his efforts in promoting the well-being of Mexican communities abroad.

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Steven Kaplan, Esquire, Vice Chair  

Mr. Kaplan joined Congreso's Board in 1999. A life-long city resident, Mr. Kaplan was born, raised and educated in North Philadelphia.  Mr. Kaplan is the former chief of staff for Mellon Financial Corporation’s Mid-Atlantic Region and chairman of the Mid-Atlantic Charitable Trusts and has served in various leadership capacities since joining the corporation in 1982.  As Chief of Staff, he coordinated all staff functions in the region, including corporate affairs, government relations, legal, corporate operations and real estate, audit risk & review, finance, human resources and information services.  Prior to this position, he was assistant district attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office.  In 2007, Mr. Kaplan was appointed by Governor Rendell as the Pennsylvania Secretary of Banking and continues to serve in this role as a member of the Governor’s cabinet and regulator of Pennsylvania banks.  Mr. Kaplan holds a law degree from Temple Law School.

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Aaron Binder, Treasurer

Mr Binder was elected Treasurer of Congreso's Board of Directors in March 2008.  Mr. Binder is currently the Associate Executive Director of the New Jersey Assembly Majority Office, advising the Assembly Speaker and Democratic Caucus on public policy initiatives. He is the aide for the Transportation, Public Works, and Independent Authorities Committee and also staffs both the Appropriations and the Budget Committees.  Before his current position, Mr. Binder spent six years as Chief Financial Officer for Congreso, helping to manage Congreso’s finances during a period of tremendous success and growth.  Prior to this, he spent five years working for the City of Philadelphia in the Rendell Administration.  Mr. Binder graduated from Brandeis University where he attained a bachelors in economics, earned a Masters in government administration from the Fels Center of Government at the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters level certificate of accounting from Temple University.

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José L. Cabrera, Member

José L. Cabrera was elected to Congreso’s Board of Directors in March 2008. Mr. Cabrera ’s extensive experience in the business sector will greatly contribute to guiding Congreso’s operations in the years to come. Currently, Mr. Cabrera is the Vice President of Materials Management of Sunoco. In this position, his responsibilities include the procurement of all non-hydrocarbon materials and services for the business units and the corporation. Prior to this assignment, José has held numerous roles in Sunoco since being hired as Director of Engineering Services in August 2000. José came to Sunoco following a nineteen-year career that began in 1981 at Tenneco’s Chalmette Refinery. He joined Mobil Oil in 1988 with Mobil’s acquisition of the Chalmette Refinery. Mr. Cabrera graduated from the University of Alabama in 1981 with a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering.

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Roseline Hernandez Marston, Member

Ms. Marston joined Congreso's board in 2005.  Ms. Marston is currently President of A.D. Marble & Company, one of the leading environmental  consulting firms in the Middle Atlantic States specializing in environmental impact studies for clients  such as the Pennsylvania Turnpike  Commission, PennDOT, the transportation agencies of Maryland, New Jersey and Delaware and the U.S. Navy.  A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Ms. Marston came to the U.S. in 1987 to attend college at Cornell University where she received a Bachelors degree in biology.  She also holds a Masters degree in Coastal Zone Management from Nova Southeastern University.

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Esperanza Martinez Neu, Member

Elected to Congreso’s Board of Directors in March 2008, Ms.
Neu will chair the Board’s Individual Fundraising Committee.
Currently, Ms. Neu is the Director of Compensation at AmerisourceBergen Corporation, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical services companies serving the United States, Canada and selected global markets. In this role, she is responsible for the organization’s enterprise-wide compensation practices and ensures alignment across a diverse group of businesses. Ms. Neu has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical services industry in multiple areas of the organization, with the majority of her time spent in Southern California specializing in the area of sales compensation and recognition. Ms. Neu has been in her
corporate role since 2001. She is a Certified Compensation Professional and is a member of WorldatWork and the Penjerdel Employee Benefits & Compensation Association (PEBA).

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Fernando Méndez, Member

Mr. Méndez joined Congreso's Board in 2000. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia.  Mr. Méndez holds a Masters degree in Spanish and Portuguese from Villanova University and has taught at Villanova University, Temple University, and St. Joseph's Preparatory School.  Mr. Méndez was Editor of El Sol Latino Newspaper (1996-2002) and presently serves as Editor-at-large.  Mr. Méndez is a founding member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Mexican Cultural Center.  He is also the host of "En Portada," shown on WWSI-TV 62 - a Telemundo affiliate. The show is dedicated to informing the community about current events and interviewing politicians, community leaders and other individuals in the news.

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Richard Negrin, Member

Mr. Negrin joined Congreso's Board in 2004. Currently he is Vice President, Associate General Counsel, and a member of the Executive Leadership Council of ARAMARK. Prior to joining ARAMARK, Mr. Negrin was a litigator with the global law firm of Morgan Lewis and a prosecutor in the Major Trials Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. He was recognized by the Pennsylvania Law Weekly in their “50 On the Fast Track” supplement as one of “the brightest people under 40 years old practicing law in Pennsylvania.” Mr. Negrin has been designated a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer” by Philadelphia Magazine and has been recognized as a “Minority Rising Star” by the Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer. He received his bachelors degree in political science from Wagner College. He is a 1995 graduate of Rutgers University School of Law. Mr. Negrin is a former President of the Hispanic Bar Association of Pennsylvania and has served on the Board of the HBA's Legal Education Fund. He has also been active in the Hispanic National Bar Association, where he serves as Co-Chair of the United States Supreme Court Committee. In addition, Mr. Negrin has served as adjunct professor of law in trial advocacy at Temple University School of Law, where he helped coach the National Trial Team. In 2006, Mr. Negrin was appointed by the Mayor of Philadelphia, and confirmed by city council, to be Vice Chair of the new independent Board of Ethics for the City of Philadelphia. The Ethics Board is charged with educating, investigating and enforcing Philadelphia’s campaign finance and ethics laws as well as oversight over financial reporting requirements.

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José Sosa, Member

Mr. Sosa joined Congreso's Board in 2005.  Mr. Sosa entered the political arena in 1986, when he was elected to local Council in the Burlington County community of Mount Holly, New Jersey.  He was subsequently re-elected and served two terms as Mayor.  Upon retirement from his mayoral seat, Mr. Sosa served in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 1992 to January 2004, representing the 7th Legislative District.  Mr. Sosa currently serves as Director of Government & External Affairs for Johnson & Johnson at its World Headquarters in New Brunswick, New Jersey.  In April 2004, Latino Leaders Magazine named Mr. Sosa one of the Top Ten Latino Leaders in Health Care.  Mr. Sosa currently serves on the Corporate Board of Advisors of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) and the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute, among others.  A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mr. Sosa is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

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